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estaurateur Panagiotis Dimopulos (Panos for short) likes his food fresh just like the way it'€™s made back home. In bringing still relatively unknown Greek cuisine to Jakarta, he adheres to simplicity and a fidelity to freshness now largely forgotten in the local casual dining scene.

The owner of five-month-old El Greco Gourmet Café refuses to install a freezer in his kitchen, and his pungent Greek coffee is not your average instant variety.

It is grated over stones to a floury consistency in a contraption resembling a dough mixer. The coffee is then roasted in sand.

 '€œThe older people like this coffee, especially [those] who are used to drinking tubruk '€“ this is more like it for them,'€ he says of the beverage, referencing the unfiltered ground coffee traditionally drunk in Indonesia, which settles at the bottom of the cup like sludge.

The tartness of yogurt may disagree with some palates in its out-of-the-ordinary use in savory Greek dishes, such as the bifteki (a barbecued beef patty served with pita bread), but Panos feels uncompelled to reign in the sourness, which is amped by liberal use of lemon sauce and vinegar. He finds that explaining the many health benefits of tzatziki sauce to customers who are uninitiated in Greek food tend to reverse any misgivings.

 '€œThat'€™s why I have to be here all day because I have to explain to the customers what is the food, what is the difference. Many times [they] ask me what I recommend. For me, everything. It'€™s not possible for one mother to choose one of her children!'€ he says with a smile.

A further nod to freshness is the custom of serving sauces and condiments on the side, leaving the inherent flavor of the meat and vegetables unaltered '€“ as well as enjoying meals outdoors in the balmy Mediterranean sunshine.

'€œOne big difference with Indonesian kitchens [is] you don'€™t mix the spices with the food directly. We keep the spices separate,'€ says Dimopulos. '€œBecause when we'€™re eating meat or potatoes, we want to taste the potatoes and meat. We don'€™t want to feel the ketchup or the sambal. We want to separate the flavors. That'€™s why we Greeks order never only one dish; we order three dishes even if we are alone.'€

Meals in Greece are typically taken as meze, appetizer-sized tasting dishes of three to four salads and meat dishes shared among a group '€œwith stories or singing around the table'€, he says.

'€œGreece'€™s answer to McDonald'€™s'€ jokes Dimopulos, is the pita gyros '€“ paper-swathed chicken, lamb or beef wraps '€“ and a wise first try for those unfamiliar with Greek cuisine. In his opinion, Greek salad is, bar none, the most nutritious dish of his homeland, flavored with a dressing of cholesterol-lowering extra virgin olive oil that is drizzled over diced tomatoes, onions and cucumbers with sliced olives and cubes of feta cheese.

But he is disdainful of the use of lettuce in the salad, which he considers is a cost-cutting ploy on the part of the chef.

 '€œIn a Greek salad, you never put lettuce. Here they'€™re putting lettuce just to put less tomato and all that '€“ just to fill the plate.'€